The Western Province is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Western Province is the most densely populated province in the country and is home to the legislative capital Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte as well as to Colombo, the nation's administrative and business center.
Doona is a genus of flowering plants in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It includes ten species of trees endemic to Sri Lanka.
Wrightia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1810. It native to tropical Africa, China, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Papuasia, and Australia. The species are all small trees or shrubs.
Gampaha is an urban city in Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated to the north-east of the capital Colombo. It is the sixth largest urban area in Western Province, after Colombo, Negombo, Kalutara, Panadura and Avissawella. Gampaha is also the second largest municipal centre in Gampaha district, after Negombo. Gampaha has a land area of 25.8 ha and is home to the offices of 75 government institutions.
The golden palm civet is a viverrid endemic to Sri Lanka. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Its distribution is severely fragmented, and the extent and quality of its habitat in Sri Lanka's hill regions are declining.
Pericopsis mooniana, the nandu wood or nedun tree, is a species of legume in the family Fabaceae. It is found in Indonesia, Malaysia, Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Adenomus kandianus is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae endemic to Sri Lanka. It is a high-altitude species known only from few localities. The specific name kandianus means "from Kandy" and seems to suggest that the type material came from near the city of Kandy.
Pseudophilautus hypomelas is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae endemic to Sri Lanka. It is sometimes referred to as the webless shrub frog. In 2004 it was declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature when, despite extensive field efforts, no specimen had been seen in the wild after the species was described by Albert Günther in 1876. However, this frog was rediscovered in 2010 in the Peak Wilderness, a highly biodiverse area in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka. Thus, this species had been "lost" for more than 130 years.
Mangifera zeylanica or "Sri Lanka wild mango" is a wild species of mango tree endemic to Sri Lanka. This stately tree is the tallest member of the mango genus, Mangifera, and one of the two tallest trees in the family Anacardiaceae. The mango fruits are edible and have an excellent taste. It is called "aetamba" (ඇටඹ) or "wal amba" in Sinhala and “kaddu-ma” in Tamil. The well-known British botanist and explorer Joseph Dalton Hooker first described the tree in 1876.
Breynia assimilis is an extremely rare species of flowering plant in the family Phyllanthaceae. It is a shrub or tree endemic to the wet evergreen lowland forests of southwestern Sri Lanka. It is only known from the Sinharaja Biosphere Reserve there, evidence of its existence was last catalogued before 1991, and it has not been found since then. It may since have become extinct.
Cinnamomum citriodorum is a species of flowering plant in the family Lauraceae. It is commonly known as Malabar cinnamon. It is an evergreen tree which grows up to 10 metres tall. The species is endemic to central and southwestern Sri Lanka.
Kokoona zeylanica, known in Sinhala as කොකුන් (Kokun) is a species of plant in the family Celastraceae. It is not to be confused with the similar sounding word කොකුම් which stands for the Kokum plant. The genus was formerly classified in the family Hippocrateaceae.
Lakshman Bandara Kiriella, MP is a Sri Lankan politician and lawyer. He is a Member of Parliament from the Kandy District, former Leader of the House of the parliament. Also he held office as Minister of Public Enterprises and Kandy Development and as Minister of Higher Education and Highways from 2015 to 2019.
Udawattakele Forest Reserve often spelled as Udawatta Kele, is a historic forest reserve on a hill-ridge in the city of Kandy. It is 104 hectares large. During the days of the Kandyan kingdom, Udawattakele was known as "Uda Wasala Watta" in Sinhalese meaning "the garden above the royal palace". The sanctuary is famous for its extensive avifauna. The reserve also contains a great variety of plant species, especially lianas, shrubs and small trees. There are several giant lianas. Many of small and medium size mammals that inhabit Sri Lanka can be seen here. Several kinds of snakes and other reptiles might be seen. Udawattakele was designated as a forest reserve in 1856, and it became a sanctuary in 1938.
Hunteria zeylanica grows as either an evergreen shrub or as a tree up to 15 metres (49 ft) tall, with a trunk diameter of up to 34.5 centimetres (13.6 in). Its flowers feature a white corolla. The berries are yellow. Its habitat is forests from sea level to 350 metres (1,150 ft) altitude. The trees can withstand salinity. Local medicinal uses include for stomach-ache. Hunteria zeylanica wood is used for weapon handles and as firewood. In Africa, the plant is native to Kenya and Tanzania and in Asia it is native to China, India, Sri Lanka, Indochina and western Malesia.
Henarathgoda Botanical Garden, also known as Gampaha Botanical Garden, is one of the six botanical gardens in Sri Lanka. The botanical garden is situated on the Gampaha-Minuwangoda main road, approximately 450 m (1,480 ft) away from Gampaha railway station. It is about 29 km (18 mi) from Sri Lanka's commercial capital of Colombo.
Pseudocarapa championii is a species of tree in the Meliaceae family. It is endemic to Sri Lanka.
Dichilanthe zeylanica is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is endemic to Sri Lanka. It is a tree that grows in evergreen forest habitat.
Gastrodia zeylanica is a species of potato orchids which is endemic to Sri Lanka. It was added to the 2007 Red list of Threatened Fauna and Flora of Sri Lanka as 'critically endangered', on the basis of it having only been collected from a few localities.
Rubber production in Sri Lanka commenced in 1876, with the planting of 1,919 rubber seedlings at the Henarathgoda Botanical Gardens in Gampaha. The total extent under rubber in 1890 was around 50 ha and in the early 1900s it increased to around 10,000 ha. By 1982 the total extent under rubber was around 180,000 ha and the total annual production was 125,000,000 kg (276,000,000 lb). However, the total extent under rubber declined subsequently and at present it is around 120,000 h (430,000 ks)a. Rubber contributes about 0.6% of the total GDP. According to figures published in 2018 by the Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka, producing 82,600,000 kg (182,100,000 lb) in 2018.
